She smiled and started to move again, but there was one more thing he had to
make clear. Van Helsing pulled her to him and kissed her hard, then softly, then
hard again. She returned the same passion. The venom in his veins, Dracula's plan
for the world, his own unknown past-all was forgotten, and Van Helsing found
himself lost in her. Anna surprised him again by doing something he could never
have done: she pulled away. She stared at him, her eyes full of promise, and then
turned and ran after Carl.
Простите, я поплачуSomething struck her hard from behind, and she realized that they had crashed
onto a piece of furniture that had then broken beneath her.
That's not the only thing that's broken, her mind called out.
She tried to get up, to push the beast off of her, but found that none of her limbs
would obey her commands.
The werewolf was on top of her, but he wasn't moving. He hadn't gone for the kill.
Then she saw the empty syringe sticking out of his chest and realized that nothing
was wrong.
She had come for Van Helsing, and she hadn't failed him.
Anna willed her resisting body to move again and realized that she might not be
getting up from this fight, but it didn't matter.
They had won: they had rid the world of Dracula's curse. The count's children were
dead, as were his brides. The man who had risked so much for them all-for herwould
soon be free.
Anna had been a soldier in a war. There was a price to be paid even for victory,
and she would gladly pay it.
Looking up, she could see that there was pain and confusion in the werewolf's
eyes. Anna wanted to say something, but found that her mouth also would not
obey her.
It was all right. A gentle peace descended on her. The world would have a future,
Van Helsing would have a future-not with her, but he would have one.
Anna found comfort in her past. Papa. Mama. Velkan. Images swirled in her mind.
Memories. Good feelings.
Anna wasn't gone-not yet. He saw her face in the smoke. Van Helsing had no
doubt that she was with him. The face smiled and floated up to the reddening dawn
sky.
Stunned, he took a step forward, wanting to follow. Then he saw something that
stopped him where he stood. There were other faces with Anna's. Van Helsing
recognized Velkan and Anna's father, a woman who must have been her mother . .
. and others. The entire Valerious line. Anna's father hugged her; her mother was
tending to her hair; Velkan was beaming his love and pride.
Anna's past and future merged into one, and Van Helsing saw that she was happy,
felt that she was happy. And then he understood her final gift: a feeling of peace
that descended on him; peace and hope-for him, for a giant of a man on a small
raft in a very large sea, for everyone.
Van Helsing felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find that Carl was witnessing
the vision, too. Anna gave him one last look, her radiant eyes beaming with
happiness, with hope, with all possibility. And finally she and the rest of her family
ascended into the dawn sky.
Her fight was over. She had come out on the other side . . . the brighter side.